Wales’ architectural identity has been subject to a major overhaul in the last decade, the chairman of Design Commission for Wales has claimed.

Wales’ architectural identity has been subject to a major overhaul in the last decade, the chairman of Design Commission for Wales has claimed.

Alan Francis said the standard of the country’s architecture and building design today was a world away from when it was pilloried for having no entries in leading awards and for rejecting the work of a world-leading architect who instead took her work to China.

Speaking as the commission celebrates its 10th anniversary, Mr Francis said: “In Wales 10 years ago the press, the design press in particular, were extremely critical of Wales.

“We came under fire for having no Riba (Royal Institute of British Architects) award winning buildings.

“It was also when there was the debacle about the opera house – the Welsh Government was criticised for the way it was done.”

Accusations of elitism and politics scuppered the original opera house design by internationally-acclaimed architect Zaha Hadid after years of wrangling.

Sixteen years after her proposals were scrapped, Hadid’s vision is now a reality in China as the Guangzhou Opera House.

“The big changes in the last decade in Wales have seen the air of negativity gone and we have a fabulous range of new buildings, which have helped us evolve and led to a new international perception of Wales,” said Mr Francis.

“One big part of what we do [in the commission] is design review on significant planning applications – significant by their impact, not their size.

“For example, the Snowdon Visitor Centre is quite a small building but its impact was to be enormous.

“If you measure it that way then the design commission sees building having a major impact across Wales. I suspect that anyone operating in Wales now, and certainly all the local authorities, are very well aware of what the commission does.”

Mr Francis highlighted Pat Borer and David Lea’s Wales Institute for Sustainable Education (Wise) at the Centre for Alternative Technology (Cat) in Machynlleth as being the best building built in Wales in the last 10 years.

“Year on year, this small nation has attracted attention for the right reasons,” he said.

“Our national conservatoire the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama is a gem at the heart of the capital, while Pat Borer and David Lea played a masterstroke with the Wales Institute for Sustainable Education.

“I’ve little doubt that in 2012 Wales is in a far better place. But this is no time for complacency – there is too much at risk.

Although the body has no statutory powers, Mr Francis said its skills and resources have proved increasingly influential in the decisions taken by planning authorities.

“Increasingly planning authorities are treating us a bit like a statutory body and are asking applicants to seek commentary from the commission,” he said.

“Many schemes that we have looked at have changed and local authorities have insisted they have changed or the applicants or designers have wanted to change them based on our comments.”

He said the body, unlike its now defunct England based counterpart, the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment, had a broader advisory panel.

“Unlike Cabe, who had mostly architects and designers on their panel, our design panel is made up a vast mix of people. We have engineers, property owners, developers, estate agents giving a multi -disciplinary view and very often we are able to find ways of increasing the value of the scheme for the owner, because we may have seen an aspect that a design team haven’t.”

He added: “Buildings and places have to be part of their environment.

“They can’t be designed on a drawing board with no relevance or response to the setting they are in.

“Wales is a very small and mostly rural country and much of our work is local by its very nature. We have always accommodated grassroots projects, assisted individuals, groups and members of the public and we will continue to find ways to do so.”

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